BRITAIN: A special Dáil debate will be held next Wednesday to discuss the decision of the British government to privatise British Nuclear Fuels. Opposition parties will be urging the Taoiseach to raise the issue with Tony Blair when he meets him in Armagh the following day to launch the latest initiative on Northern Ireland.
The Labour Party chief whip and spokesman on nuclear issues, Emmet Stagg, last night welcomed the fact that the Dáil debate would take place before the meeting of the Taoiseach and the British prime minister.
"Wednesday's debate will enable the Taoiseach to convey to Mr Blair the strong concerns held by all sides of the House on this development," said Mr Stagg.
"The history of Sellafield almost since it opened has been an endless chapter of serious accidents and incidents followed by concerted attempts to cover up the truth," he said. "Whatever limited degree of political accountability there has been in regard to Sellafield will be greatly reduced if the plant is sold off."
Earlier in the Dáil yesterday Minister for Finance Brian Cowen, in response to a question from Mr Stagg, said that although the agenda for next Thursday's meeting between Mr Ahern and Mr Blair was related to Northern Ireland, in light of the good relations between the two leaders, the nuclear issue was one that might be raised.
He said that the concerns of the Government about the nuclear issue were well known.
"Unanimity has been articulated regularly in the House, through motions and in debates, on the question of Sellafield and the strong policy position of successive governments on its being taken out of use as quickly as possible."
Fine Gael environment spokesperson Fergus O'Dowd said later that the comments made by Mr Cowen in the Dáil must be made good and the British government must be in no doubt as to the depth of opposition to the move to privatise.
"The Taoiseach meets prime minister Blair next week and it is incumbent upon him to raise this matter of national security. The environment minister must also explain why, for over a year, he has been silent on the issue of nuclear privatisation in the UK," he said.
"Sellafield is not safe and privatising it will only compromise nuclear safety further. Such a move would lead to downward pressure on costs, thus increasing the likelihood of security lapses and accidents.
"In the last year alone we have seen leaks, plutonium loss and a formal warning from the European Commission. Placing the chronically unsafe facility in private hands, I believe, will see profit put ahead of safety and put every citizen of Ireland, especially those on the east coast, at risk," he said.
Mr O'Dowd added that a report last April from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland showed that the threat of an attack on Sellafield was as great as ever and it still represented a prime terrorist target.
"We cannot forget that the distance between Sellafield and Dublin is the same as between Dublin and Waterford and the potential contamination levels in Ireland from an attack would be massive.
"There is also a huge issue with transparency and accountability at the plant. Time and time again, the Irish Government and the Irish people have been told lies about Sellafield with leaks covered up and safety records falsified," Mr O'Dowd said.
"A privatised Sellafield would be less accountable and far less transparent and Irish people would be left with far less information than the paltry amounts we already receive."